India’s unemployment rate in urban areas during July-Sept 2024 stood at 6.4%, compared to 6.6% in the same period last year, according to the government’s quarterly periodic labour force survey (PLFS) released on Monday.
The jobless rate among women, aged 15 years and above, came in far higher than for men for similar age bracket, a trend that has been steadfast over several quarters, according to the data. This points to continued labour-market frictions for job-seeking women, who can find less work than men.
The unemployment rate for men stood at 5.7%, against 8.4% for women. The unemployment rate is the percentage of unemployed people in the labour force, defined as the sum of people already working and those not in any job.
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The Union government launched the PLFS in 2017 to assess labour-market movements in a country with a bulging young, job-seeking population. The PLFS currently issues quarterly data on key indicators but with a lag, followed by one annual report.
The findings reveal that unemployment levels have remained largely unchanged overall, with only a marginal improvement.
According to the government’s Economic Survey 2023-24, India needs to create 7.85 million non-farm jobs every year until 2030 to absorb its growing labour force. That target is way higher than the current pace of job creation.
The government has launched several schemes, such as paid internships, investments and a national jobs portal, to spur employment.
“Employment generation will have to remain a top priority for the government, and it has to add enough jobs to cater to the youth. Policies meant to add jobs, including investments, tend to show results only with a time lag,” said Govind Sobti, a former economist with the Indian Statistical Institute.
The labour force participation rate (LFPR), a key indicator, in urban areas among persons of age 15 years and above showed an increase from 49.3% during July–September 2023 to 50.4% in July–September 2024, according to the latest PLFS.
The LFPR refers to the number of people already working or are looking for work. It helps economists to get a better assessment of the labour market.
The worker population ratio (WPR) in urban areas among persons of age 15 years and above stood at 47.2% during the survey period, up from 46% a year earlier.
The WPR is defined as the percentage of employed persons in a given population.
The quarterly PLFS surveys gauge employment based on “current weekly status” or CWS. A reference period based on CWS means the PLFS considers a person employed if he or she had been engaged in any economic activity in the week prior to the survey.
The PLFS also brings out an annual report on employment and unemployment rates in both urban and rural areas based on both CWS and usual status (US), which is a reference period of 12 months.